Kingpin Phua bailed out 'friends' to the tune of millions

Alleged gambling kingpin Paul Phua Wei Seng - arrested by in Las Vegas last July for allegedly running a chain of illegal betting operations - had shadowy business deals in Montenegro with a number of people close to Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, says a report.

And for some of these individuals, he even paid off their loans by offering a piece of his land to the bank, according to documents sighted by Montenegro’s Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN).

Additionally, reporters from the Montenegrin news portal Vijesti who investigated the notorious bookie found that a company belonging to Phua had its land ‘acquired’ by a bank which is co-owned by Phua’s close partner, Petros Stathis.

Stathis has been named by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in court filings done when Phua was charged with running an illegal online soccer gambling racket at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The Montenegrin land transaction, according to the reports, wiped out debts amounting to 2.076 million euros.

“CIN had access to the audit report of this bank, then known as First Financial Bank (now Universal Capital) at the end of 2013.

“The report stated pursuant to the agreement of the settlement of Dec 3, 2013, the (Restis) Group acquired the property in the municipality of ‘Reževici I’ with a total area of 22,172 square meters which were the property of Phua’s company, First Seafront Estate.

“The value of the property acquired by Stathis’s bank was estimated at 2.245 million euros (RM9.1 million).

“This agreement settled a total debt of 2.076 million euros (RM8.2 million). The bank until then had eight companies - Galea, First Financial Holdings, Stan Project, Balkan Energy, Golden Estate, Mont Voyage and First Seafront Estate all from Podgorica (Montenegro’s capital) as well as the company Konel Monte from Herceg Novi, Montenegro.

“Except for the companies Galea, Stan project and Konel Monte, all companies referred to in the agreement with Stathis’s First Financial Bank were located at the same address which was Ulcinjska No. 3,” said the report in CIN.

According to the report, Phua’s name as a Montenegro citizen first appeared in the Montenegrin business registries on Nov 23, 2010. Last week, it was revealed that Phua has held a Montenegro citizenship since October 2013.

Said CIN: “He (Phua) first appeared in the Central Registry of Business Entities (CRPS) database on Nov 23, 2010. He then founded a company in Podgorica with a very promising name - Really Useful. The activities of this company were 'consulting activities in connection with the activities of management’.

“Ten days later, on Dec 3, 2010. Phua becomes co-owner (with 16 percent of the capital) in the Podgorica-based company, First Seafront Estate. It was established by the Golden Estate company, which back in December 2007 was managed by a Greek businessman identified as Petros Stathis.

“Stathis, who is also a citizen of Montenegro, had done jobs in Montenegro for Greek businessman Viktor Restis, the owner of the Restis group. Restis was arrested in July 2013 in Greece for alleged financial crimes,” stated the CIN report.

In San Marino - a tiny enclave in north-central Italy - Phua was also involved with Stathis and a former minister of the land-locked republic, who was arrested for money laundering involving a seven-star hotel project.
                                                                     
Phua first made headlines in Malaysia when a letter of support written by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to the FBI was declassified by the latter.

Malaysiakini also reported that Phua had previously been busted by Sarawak police for gambling activities back in 2004.

Phua is currently awaiting for the verdict of his case in the US after he and his son Darren pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed entrapment.

The court is mulling whether to throw out the case as evidence obtained by FBI to obtain a warrant to raid Phua’s hotel rooms may have been ‘flawed’.